While I was away on holidays I picked up a book that I’m reading for my final Master’s class where the following questions were posed: “How many Christians (i.e. followers of Christ) do you think there were in year AD 100?” A conservative answer from church history tells us that there were as few as 25,000 Christians. “How many Christians were there when Emperor Constantine came on the scene around AD 310?” Numbers of Christians are estimated at around 20,000,000 by this period of time. How did they do this? How did they grow from such a small community of Christ-followers to the most significant religious force in the Roman Empire within 200 years?

Before you think you have an answer to that question, you must remember that they were an illegal religion throughout this period, they didn’t have any church buildings, they didn’t have seeker-sensitive services, youth and children’s programs, seminaries or even commentaries. In fact, they actually made it hard for people to join the church and they didn’t have the scriptures as we know them. How did they grow from 25,000 to 20 million Jesus-followers within 200 years?

Part of the secret to their success was the simple fact that the gospel quickly spread like a virus through pre-existing relationships. For example, the woman at the well (John 4) influenced an entire community of people to come and see a man who'd clearly impacted her life. Her story was compelling and contagious and the good news couldn't be contained as it spread from one changed life to another

Steve Addison in his book "Movements that changed the World" reminds us that it does not take vast amounts of money to fill a nation with the knowledge of the gospel. What it takes is ordinary people, on fire with the love of Christ and empowered by the Holy Spirit, who are willing to tell their families, friends, and casual acquaintances what God has done for them. (Steve Addison, 84)

Now that's the kind of person I want to be!  What about you?